The Scent Of Trust
by velja
Summary: Post Fool Me Once. Elena is there for Damon after they get back from opening the tomb. But will Damon be able to trust Elena enough to let her see his true feelings? SEQUEL'S UP AS WELL. MORE INFO AT THE BOTTOM OF THE STORY.


**The Scent Of Trust**

by velja

**Genre:** Hurt/Comfort, Friendship

**Pairing:** A bit of Elena & Bonnie friendship, a lot of Damon & Elena

**Rating:** PG-13

**Spoilers:** Episode 1x14 "Fool me once"

**Summary:** Elena is there for Damon after they get back from opening the tomb. But will Damon trust Elena enough to let her see his true feelings?

_This one-shot directly follows the episode "Fool me once". The song used in here is called "Crash and Burn" and belongs to Savage Garden. This could possibly be regarded as pre-romance or simply as a friendship story, whatever you like more. I've become a D/E shipper at heart, so for me it's definitely pre-romance with a good chance for more to come. I hope you like this._

_Oh, and originally this was titled __**"Trust Me With Your Pain Like I Trust You With My Life"**__ (I love that sentence and I am quite proud of coming up with it. But then I thought it too long for a title, so I changed that.)_

_

* * *

  
_

_If you need to fall apart_

_I can mend a broken heart_

_If you need to crash then crash and burn_

_You're not alone_

_ 'Crash and Burn' by Savage Garden_

_

* * *

_

Elena stayed with her best friend at her Grandma's house until Bonnie's dad arrived. She silently watched him take Bonnie into his arms and hug her tightly. Then Mr. Bennett went into the living room where the paramedics were just about to store away their unused equipment.

It had been too late, there'd been nothing for them to do.

Bonnie's Grams was dead.

'Heart failure, sudden and of yet-unknown origin' Elena heard one of the doctors tell Mr. Bennett before she made her way over to where Bonnie sat in the kitchen, arms drawn closely around her shell-shocked body.

"This is my fault," Bonnie suddenly wispered and her voice cracked. Elena quickly put her arms around the girl from behind.

"Hush, Bonnie! It's not your fault!"

"Yes, it is!" Bonnie insisted and looked up with tear-stained eyes. "If I hadn't insisted on doing the spell to open the seal…"

"You did it to save Stefan!" Elena squeezed her friend's shaking body. 'And Damon,' she added to herself. "And whose fault was it that Stefan got trapped inside the tomb in the first place? He only ran in there to save me! So if anyone's to blame then it's me really, not you!"

"But…"

"Bonnie, listen to me," Elena said, determined to take away the guilt. "It's not your fault. Your Grandma must have known that doing the spell on your own would kill you. She wanted to protect you, she decided on her own and if you blame yourself now… she wouldn't have wanted that for you, Bonnie!" Elena let go of Bonnie and sat down beside her, taking her hand in hers. "She did it to save you."

"You're probably right," Bonnie sniffled. "Still, if we hadn't opened the seal…"

"Then Stefan would be trapped inside the tomb now. And if Damon or that Anna vampire hadn't wanted to open the tomb… or if I hadn't talked you into helping Damon… or if I'd never fallen for a vampire… if I'd never met Stefan… don't you see where this is going? We did it all together and we're all to blame for what happened tonight."

Eventually Bonnie nodded and Elena continued to hold her hand in silence until the parametics came out of the living room, ready to leave. Bonnie's dad made a phone call (probably to inform the local funeral home) before he sat down next to his daughter at the kitchen table. He sent a grateful look towards Elena and she nodded back. Then, with one last gentle squeeze to Bonnie's hand, she stood up and left the house.

She understood that the family needed to deal with Gram's death alone for now but she knew that come tomorrow she'd do anything to ease her friend's pain the same way Bonnie had been there for her after her parents' deaths.

But for tonight Elena had done all the comforting she could.

And although it was way past midnight and it had been a truly long and tiring night Elena felt no sign of fatigue when she closed the seatbelt and started her car. Wide awake she still drove like in trance, flashbacks of what had happened tonight tumbling restlessly through her head. She didn't notice the destination her troubled mind led her to until the car suddenly came to a halt in front of the large Salvatore boarding house.

Elena blinked through the windshield, astonished that her mind had taken her here. She'd talked to Stefan on the phone already to let him know about Gram's death. He'd been as shocked and sympathetic as she'd expected him to be but at the same time he'd been uncommonly terse with her. Like he had a thousand other things he wanted to do rather than talk to her.

Elena sighed and shook her head. It had nothing to do with her, she knew. Stefan truly had other things on his mind right now. Trying to console a heartbroken brother for example, and keeping him from unleashing the pain and pent-up anger he must be feeling inside by starting a bloodbath in town.

Not that Elena thought Damon would do that. Yet.

He'd still been in the stage of denial when Elena had last seen him. In the woods when she'd hugged him… he hadn't hugged her back. He'd stood there, body shell-shocked and face vacant, not really there at all. And she'd vowed to herself, while hugging his rigid form and telling him she was sorry, that she'd be there for him to deal with whatever aftermath would be coming.

Maybe that's why she'd come here now.

Elena focussed her eyes on the house again and scanned the windows for any sliver of light. The upper rooms were all covered in silent darkness but downstairs a low shimmering glow was breaking through one of the heavy curtains.

It seemed like one or perhaps even both of the Salvatore brothers were still up, as unable to find rest in bed as she was. Elena leaned back in the driver's seat and closed her eyes for a moment.

Instantly an image appeared in her mind, the crystal clear picture of someone sitting in front of the large fireplace that dominated the spacious Salvatore living room. The fire provided the only light for the man whose face seemed emotionless and blank. He kept staring into the flames that flickered and danced ever so slightly due to an unknown draft from somewhere. Shadows moved along the panelled walls and over his motionless face, pronouncing his handsome features and sharp-edged cheekbones and jaw.

The man's right hand was clasped around a bottle of Brandy, the level of it sunken so low that you couldn't be sure of any liquor left at all.

Elena opened her eyes again. A heartfelt sigh escaped her lips and she couldn't help feel a compassionate tug inside her stomach. God, he looked so… crushed.

Damon was truly heartbroken.

Because, yes, that's who Elena had just been envisioning in her mind.

Damon, not Stefan.

Elena had noticed his crushed stare into the flames, void of any emotion, and his eyes that seemed to lack their usual spark. They looked lifeless and dull.

Those enigmatic silver orbs framed in near black that in the beginning used to make Elena nervous and edgy, like she was suddenly completely naked to his sight. She'd only recently come to see Damon's eyes shine with something other than mockery, contempt or sarcasm. She'd seen them radiate passion, pain, even sincere concern. For her.

That night he'd come to her rescue after the car crash, when he'd saved her from the vampire she'd just run over… Elena had seen his eyes glow bright with concern and care for the first time then.

Somehow he'd come to care for her then, no matter what he said or did to deny it.

Or… maybe Damon had started to care even before then, Elena thought when an older memory hit her out of nowhere. On Halloween, when Vicky had been killed (for which he was solely responsible, Elena tried to remind her brain) and he'd found her standing by the poor girl's dead body, hurt and bleeding…

Damon, with the scent of Elena's freshly seeping blood assaulting his vampire senses, had made her leave. He'd threatened her, true, but he'd made her leave so that he wouldn't harm her.

He'd tried to protect her even then.

"And now," Elena wispered to herself and slowly got out of the car, "now I'm gonna protect him. Whether he wants it or not!"

Hands stuck deep in the pockets of her coat Elena walked over to the front door, took a deep breath and then rang the bell.

Nothing happened, no sound whatsoever could be heard from inside the house. Elena tried the bell again and waited a few more seconds. Then she reached for the doorknob but before she could turn it the door suddenly opened and Stefan's face appeared in the dark gap.

"Elena?"

"Hey Stefan," she answered with a small smile.

Stefan seemed surprised to see her but he stepped aside and let her enter without further comment. Once inside, Elena spun around and quickly pulled him into a hug. Stefan's arms closed around her reluctantly but Elena didn't notice. Tilting her face up to his she asked: "How is he?"

"Damon?" Stefan's voice immediately took on an even more surprised edge. Surprised and… suspicious. He let go of her and stepped back. "He's… to be honest, I don't really know. He's Damon."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Elena's voice sounded harsh to her own ears and it took her by surprise. She had no reason to be angry with Stefan, had she? With more gentlenes than she was feeling she added: "Have you talked to him?"

He'd walked a few steps backwards but now Stefan stopped and stared into Elena's eyes.

"No. I sat with him for a while but… he just keeps staring on in silence. I told him that I was willing to listen and I mean it, for the first time in… I don't know. I'm willing to listen to him, but…" Stefan broke off and gave Elena a sad glance. "Damon and I, we're not too good with that compassionate brother-thing, you know?"

"Yeah, I know," Elena nodded and closed the distance between them once again. "That's why I'm here." She walked past him to enter the living room but Stefan moved with supernatural speed and blocked her way.

"No, Elena. You can't go in. I won't let you anywhere near him!"

"What?"

Elena's brown eyes bore into his, unyielding and shocked at the same time. Shocked that he would dare to order her around. Her jaw set and eyes blinking furiously Elena held Stefan's gaze and eventually Stefan sighed and lowered his gaze.

"I don't think you should be anywhere near Damon now, resembling Katherine like you do. He's gonna take it out on you, he's gonna hurt you!"

Elena's jaw clenched even more but she tore her eyes away from his and forced her mouth to work properly. "I know that he won't hurt me, Stefan. And you know why he won't?" Elena looked up again and Stefan was thrown by the disappointment that shone from her eyes.

"Damon would never confuse me for Katherine! He never has and he never will. He knows me for who I really am," Elena rounded Stefan's body once more and, on the verge of entering the living room, threw over her shoulder: "Unlike you, apparently."

Stefan's shoulders sagged when he watched her slowly pass the threshold. He thought briefly about going after her, dragging her out again, out of Damon's reach. But at once Stefan realized that it was far too late for that.

Obviously his girlfriend had already been pulled in. Whether it had been intentional or not on Damon's side didn't matter right now, Elena cared for him. Otherwise she wouldn't be here.

Stefan closed his eyes. He should have seen it coming.

Tonight in the cemetary, when Elena had so naturally put her arms around Damon to comfort him, he should have seen it. And even before then. When he and Damon had been inside the tomb and Elena had followed, pleading for them to get out… it hadn't been **his** name she'd called in desperation. She'd come running and the words had rushed from her mouth, perhaps unconsciously but ever so self-evident.

_**Damon, please!**_

Stefan would never have thought that history would once again repeat itself. Not here, not now. Not with Elena.

Though perhaps it wouldn't. There was still a chance that he wouldn't lose Elena to Damon. But Stefan knew that something had gradually grown between his brother and his girl. They had something, some kind of connection he couldn't begin to understand. And he knew that any attempt to break that connection would result in him losing Elena for good. For now there was still a chance that, once Damon had left town to search for Katherine (Stefan was sure he'd eventually do so), Elena would come back to him wholeheartedly.

He'd just have to wait it out for now. Stefan cast another look after Elena and then turned around to leave the house with vampire speed.

* * *

Once Elena passed the two steps down into the living room she realized that the lights in the entrance hall must have been turned on despite of what she'd thought outside. Because she'd been able to see Stefan's face perfectly clear but now, here, a sudden darkness fell over her eyes that made her stumble and forced her to stop for a second.

Her eyes needed a moment to adjust to her dim surroundings but soon she was able to make out some dining table in front of her. She'd nearly walked right into it.

Elena lifted her gaze and felt immediately drawn to the big fireplace across the room. But it wasn't the bright light and warmth that captivated her eyes and pulled her forward like a moth to the flame.

It was the entire picture she was suddenly confronted with, an all too familiar scene; The high flames dancing in the fireplace, the leather couch in front of it and most of all the figure sitting there.

Damon looked just like Elena had envisioned him earlier in her mind. He stared straight on, obviously not seeing anything, his body slightly bent forward with his elbows resting on his knees. The bottle of Brandy she'd also imagined was dangling limply from his right hand, nearly empty.

Elena took two hesitant steps closer to his motionless form.

"Damon?"

She knew he must have heard her although he showed no sign of it and her voice had barely been above a whisper.

"Damon," she repeated softly. Her feet made no sound on the plush carpet when she slowly crept closer. She stopped next to the couch and leaned with her thigh against the bulky armrest. Still he gave no sign of acknowledging her presence. Elena silently stared at Damon's profile, watched the shadows flicker over his cheeks and wondered if she should sit down beside him.

Then she suddenly realized that his lips were moving but the sound falling from them was too low for her to pick up. Withought a thought Elena sat down close to his right and leaned forward to catch the words he was whispering.

"Seven point something. Seven point something times. Seven point something…"

Elena's brow furrowed in confusion. Had he gone completely mad now? What was it Damon was counting over and over again?

"Damon?" she adressed him for the third time, more worried now than before. Damon only kept on repeating his weird mantra. "Seven point something, seven point…"

"Seven point something what?" Elena asked and tentatively placed a hand onto his forearm. The touch finally got her a reaction. Damon stopped muttering but pressed his lips together instead. His head cocked aside and he stared at Elena with a look so full of loathing and anger that Elena was hard-pressed not to back away in fear.

She was convinced at once that he wasn't regarding her for who she was. He was seeing Katherine in her. Elena tried to pull her hand away but before the thought was even done forming in her head Damon had suddenly covered her hand with his and therefore kept her from moving.

Elena's eyes flew down to his arm. His hand wasn't as cold to the touch as she'd assumed and, she noticed immediately, it wasn't hurting her either. Damon simply let his palm rest lightly on her fingers and his thumb started a soft movement, almost a caress.

A rush of air escaped Elena's mouth in relief and she lifted her gaze to look at his face once again. Damon's eyes had never left her face. But now Elena could see the anger draining away to be replaced by something she couldn't quite figure out yet.

"I should have turned twenty-one that year," Damon's voice was completely calm and sounded nearly conversonal. A mock smile even grazed his features. "But she saw to it that I didn't of course."

He shrugged carelessly and looked down again. Elena felt him release her hand and she drew it away from his arm, sat back a little and simply waited for him to go on. She was glad that Damon at least seemed to be willing to talk to her, although she had no idea what he was talking about. But whatever was on his mind right now, it was clear that it had something to do with Katherine.

Eventually Damon went on: "So, you see, twenty. Twenty years of living, growing up, becoming… a man, a war deserter, a jerk, whatever I was back then, I can't even remember."

Damon's eyes met Elena's once again and she dared to send him a small smile. It froze on her face when Damon suddenly growled: "All I remember is the 145 years of frantic search for a way to bring her back. That's more that seven times as much time. Seven point twenty-five times exactly!"

Ah, at least now Elena understood what he'd been counting earlier. She was about to reply something but before she could so much as open her mouth Damon suddenly jumped up from the couch and in one swift movement threw the bottle of Brandy against the wall. Shards of broken glass flew everywhere and Elena had to duck her head in order to avoid being showered in fragments.

"Seven times my lifetime wasted on bringing her back! And what for?" Damon shouted and turned to her with hateful eyes. "FOR NOTHING!"

"I'm sure it wasn't for nothing, Damon," Elena quickly replied and took a step towards where he stood panting in anger. "Even if Katherine wasn't inside the tomb… she has to be there somewhere and we'll find her, Damon. I promise, we will find a way to…"

Quick as a lightning Damon was directly in her face. He grabbed her arms and shook her slightly. "You don't get it, do you?" His voice was dangerously low and his hands held her in a steel grip. "Katherine was never even in that church!"

"What?"

"She compelled a guard and he let her go! She's been alive and out there all those years! Doing God-knows-what!"

"How do you know?" Elena stared into Damon's face, just inches away from hers, and felt his erratic breath hit her cheeks.

"Anna knew it all along. I followed her and Pearl earlier. She said the last time she saw Katherine was in 1983. And that…"

Elena watched Damon gulp and close his eyes. When he looked at her again his eyes gleamed furiously but underneath the anger she could make out something else.

"And that Katherine knew where I was and simply didn't come for me. She never cared." Damon's eyes, that had glistened with unshed tears at his last words, suddenly darkened visibly. They became swiftly bloodshed and although Damon turned his head to the side Elena had seen the multiple black veins appear underneath.

Elena let out a small gasp. She'd only ever seen this up close for once, with Stefan. But she knew instantly what was happening to Damon right now. He was losing control.

"Damon," she tried to reach him through the fog of hunger that was slowly taking hold of him and although he looked at her again the hunger didn't seem to have subsided. His bloodshed eyes glid from Elena's face to her neck where she knew he had to see her pulse dashing and pumping blood through her veins.

Blood he craved like nothing else right now.

"Damon!" Elena urged once more and her hands came up on their own accord to grasp his changing face and frame it in her hands. She had no idea why but suddenly she pulled his face forward until it was at level with hers and pressed her forehead to his.

"Damon, focus!" Elena whispered into the troubled face only inches away. "Please, don't do this, Damon. I know that you can control it. Focus!"

Elena closed her eyes and waited. Her hands moved back and she could feel the surprisingly soft strands of Damon's short hair glide through her fingers. A low growl escaped his lips and Elena could feel the air mingle with her own erratic gasps of breath. Damon, she realized, was panting just as much. She opened her eyes only to see that Damon had closed his. But the tale-telling veins on his face were still there. She pleaded with him once again, desperate now.

"Damon, please!"

* * *

_When you feel all alone_

_And the world has turned it's back on you_

_Give me a moment please_

_To tame your wild wild heart_

_I know you feel like the walls are closing in on you_

_It's hard to find relieve and people can be so cold_

_When darkness is upon your door_

_And you feel like you can't take anymore_

_

* * *

  
_

"Damon, please!"

He heard her whisper through the hunger that threatened to overpower his senses. It were the same words she'd cried earlier that night, inside the tomb, when she'd pleaded with him to get out.

**_Damon, please!_**

And just like before Damon could feel the words strike. They clawed their way inside his body until they reached something in his chest that hurt like nothing else right now. His wasted heart.

And somehow it worked, Damon could feel the haze lift and the hunger subsided. Just like the black in his eyes vanished until he could feel them returning to their usual color. He was able to think more clearly now and he realized all at once that Elena's face was mere inches away from his. Their foreheads were touching and he could also feel her fingers wade softly through the hair at the back of his neck.

He noticed his hands still closed around her upper arms in a steel grip that had to truly hurt and surely would leave bruises in the morning.

Damon eased up on his grip and instead let his hands come to rest on Elena's shoulders in a gentle touch. He hadn't dared to open his eyes just yet, afraid of what he might see in her beautiful brown eyes.

Had she ever witnessed this change before? Had his brother ever transformed in front of her? Damon didn't know but he assumed he'd find out the minute this strange tender moment between them was broken.

Wait a sec… tender moment?

What was wrong with him? He wasn't Stefan! So why was he behaving like the love-struck puppy his brother seemed to become whenever he was around this girl?

Elena was just that. Some girl! A human!

With a frustrated growl Damon pushed away from her. Elena stumbled back in sudden shock.

"I'm not Stefan!"

"What?" Elena frowned and stared at his aggravated face. "I know that, Damon!"

"Then why are you… why did you… what is… you…" Damon snarled, pacing back and forth and sending her dark glares from under his eyelashes.

Elena had no idea what to make of the sudden change in Damon's behavior. She'd never seen him like this before. So agitated and uncharacteristically flustered. She'd also never heard him stutter. He'd always been so sure of himself, too sure most times, and he'd always known when to say what, and how. So what had brought on this uncommon state of his?

"Damon, what…" Elena started but at once Damon's almost casual question combined with the once again well-in-place trademark smirk cut her off.

"Tell me, Elena, do you have a death wish?"

Elena didn't know how to answer that. Well, of course she didn't wanna die just yet but… that wasn't even the issue. What was Damon talking about? What had him this upset just now? Had it been something she'd done?

"Of course not," Elena shook her head and took two steps in his direction. But the vampire backed away before she'd reached him and let out another angry snarl. As if being in Elena's proximity was causing him pain.

"Damon, what's wrong with you?" Elena needed to know.

"What's wrong with me?" Damon shot back. "Huh, you should rather ask what's wrong with you, dear, that it's making you act so absolutely stupid."

Elena let the insult slide for now though she was hard-pressed not to shoot something equally insulting back at him. She simply crossed her arms over her chest in a decidedly offended pose and watched Damon stride over to the couch again. Silently she waited for him to elaborate.

Damon sat down, stretched out his arms to let them rest on the backside and tilted his head backwards until he could look at her again almost upside-down. And despite the awkward angle Elena could still see him smirk.

"Seriously, Elena," Damon went on eventually and his voice dripped with sarcasm once again. "Something must be wrong with you. You come here tonight and manage to piss off Stefan with just a few words… whatever it is you said to him, it truly hurt him or else he wouldn't have left you here with me just like that… not when he knows the state I'm in right now. And, believe me, he knows."

"And what state would that be, Damon?" Elena asked and walked closer. She stared at Damon's upside-down face but when he didn't answer right away she stepped around the couch and plopped down beside him. Damon's head lazily lolled around to follow her movement.

"Furiously and insanely angry. Unpredictable and very, very dangerous to be around, Elena. You know, the state where I'm only one step away from snapping your neck if you do or say something to rouse that anger even more."

The unveiled threat was let loose in the most conversational tone and yet Elena didn't give it a single thought. She merely raised an eyebrow at him.

"Anger? Really, Damon? You expect me to believe that this…" she gestured around with her hand to encompass both him and his grim surroundings, "that all of this is you being angry?"

"Sure, what else would this be, huh?" Despite the light tone of Damon's voice Elena could feel a slight shift of something underneath, something endlessly more serious. "What other stupid and clearly unusual-for-me non-human that I am feelings do you expect me to feel? I'm telling you, anger is the only thing I'm capable of right now."

Damon's voice was like steel and his eyes gleamed furiously in the firelight. And despite his seemingly laid-back posture Elena noticed that his whole body was rigid and coiled like a spring ready to snap. And suddenly Elena understood. She knew with perfect clarity what was going on right now.

He was only a hair's breath away from breaking apart and was trying with all his might to not let her see it. He was hiding behind his well-tried armor of cocky sarcasm, the only way he knew how to deal with the feelings that threatened to overpower him.

Elena knew that they were on the verge of something profound. If she could only find a way to spring that lock he was so desperately trying to keep closed. If she were able to push him only a little bit more over the edge… once the floodgates would be opened there would be no holding back any longer. She only needed the right thing to open said gates.

Elena turned her body so that she came face to face with Damon. She felt his harsh glare and lifted her eyes to look at him.

Soft brown eyes bore into Damon's hard stare and the smile Elena sent him wasn't contemptuous or mocking at all. It was the most genuine smile Elena had ever sent him and surely the most gentle one that Damon had seen directed at him in many years. Maybe the kindest and most tender ever.

Damon had to gulp heavily around a sudden lump in his throat. Shit! He tried to turn his eyes away from Elena's face but found that he couldn't when two small hands came out of nowhere to softly cup his cheeks.

"This isn't you being angry, Damon," Elena whispered barely audible.

"You don't know me, Elena," Damon tried to sound sure but he found himself unable to lift his voice above hers and so his words were nothing but an unsteady whisper.

"Yes, I do. I know you, Damon, more than anybody else does. More than you know yourself. You're not angry." Elena paused briefly and leaned forward. Damon's face still in hers she felt him shudder when she continued: "You're hurt. You've seen your sole reason for being come crashing down on you tonight and you feel the weight of it push you to the ground. It threatens to drag you down, to pull you under and crush you under its heel. And you think you have to struggle against it, that you have to fight but you don't know how because you've lost all reason for fighting."

Damon closed his eyes, he couldn't look at Elena's caring face anymore. Not when she was slowly cutting her way through his armor with her soft and oh-so-true words like a hot knife would cut through butter. He couldn't bear it. He couldn't bear for her to see him like this. Weak, broken. Crushed.

Elena took a shaky breath. She could see her words hitting him. The cracks in his protective armor were there. But Damon was still holding on to it to keep the pain to himself. Now to peel it away from his grip.

"And it's okay, Damon," Elena went on with a determined nod. "It's okay to feel this way. You are allowed to give in to these feelings. You are allowed to have them."

"No," Damon shook his head but he could feel his resolve start to crumble already.

"Yes, you are. You are allowed to feel hurt and you are allowed to let go, Damon. I got you." Elena forced his face to stop shaking and yet her touch was no more forceful than the softest caress. And then she let go of his face and placed her hands around his broad back instead, She pulled him into his arms and leaned closer until her face came to rest against his and she could whisper the words right into his ear:

"Damon, please! I got you. You can trust me. Trust me with your pain like I trust you with my life. Please, just let go!"

Damon felt his eyes water and he knew he was lost. He let his body slump forward into Elena's arms and buried his face in the crook of her neck. His arms sneaked around her delicate form and he squeezed her tightly.

Elena's hold on him was just as strong when she finally felt Damon's armor break and he let go of the pain inside. She felt him fall apart, he crashed and burned and shudders wracked his body and soft sobs escaped his lips.

And Elena kept her arms around his shaking body and her face was buried in his hair, she inhaled his scent and recognized it as aftershave and shampoo mixed with leather, Whiskey, dust and tears.

And for Elena Damon's unique scent would from now on forever be known as the scent of trust.

* * *

**The End**

**... or a new beginning? I'm sure I could be persuaded to write a sequel of some sort. If you want me to, that is. Might take a while though. Let me know what you think, please.**

**Added on March the 6th: It didn't take me that long to write a sequel. I started posting it already and it's a multi-chaptered fic. It's called "Change Of Scenery", go check it out. **


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